The trollkin all shake their heads at Verzeg's suggestion of speaking up. Freedom is still a very new concept and the idea of drawing attention to yourself to a leader is anathema to them in case retribution should follow. They do select a guard rota, of sorts, and then begin to shuffle into the darkest corners to sleep while Yelm rides the sky dome.

Verzeg looks at them sadly. He knows he's somehow different to his kin but he doesn't understand it even though he's quite smart. He just knows they seem to have less spirit than he does and this makes them adverse to taking action. He worries what would happen to them if he wasn't around to help them. How would they survive? Would some new bully turn up from somewhere to enslave them or would they simply perish? He doesn't know, he doesn't have the experience to provide context. Accepting what is as being what it is, he eats and then sleeps.

Later when he wakes he checks in to make sure everything is as it should be. He knows it's unlikely that they'll venture far in unknown territory and he plans to be back by daybreak for the first night. Getting his equipment together he plans to move lightly and cautiously, working in short trips to evaluate the area and ensure there's no major threats. When they finally move off to Smalltown he'll have the vulnerable kin in tow so he'll have to plot a cautious and none-too-straight route through the ruins to where they have to get to. He makes sure some careful hunting is done at twilight so the kin have food in case he doesn't get back for a few days and they know where a water source is.

With his gear checked, crystals filled and the kin seen to he sets out, keeping to the ruins he starts working cautious sweeps through the ruins. He doesn't expect to get far in any 'jump' and will probably be quite close to the haven for most of the first night.

Creeping along in the gloomy shadows of a dilapidated wall Verzeg doesn't notice, until he almost bumps into one, a troop of baboons. They don't spot him and seem to be foraging for food or treasure.

Verzeg flattens himself to the ground, not knowing if they can see in the dark or not.

He's more than a little frightened, they seem to have the bite capability of a big Uz and seem about as big. He doesn't want to sonar them heavily in case they can sense it and is at a bit of a loss of what to do. He watches them lithely move around for a bit.

(OOC: What sort of weapons and armour do they have and how many of them does he think there is?)

In reply to Verzeg Black Beetle (msg # 4):

There are about 12 baboons. Some are wearing leather chest plates or hauberks. They are mainly armed with fire-hardened wooden spears and several have daggers or shortswords on their waists. They seem to be searching for food more than anything and are not being particularly aggressive.

Verzeg sees that there's a lot of these things and while they don't appear too hostile he's not going to risk being mobbed. He waits until the darkness really sets in and then stalks an isolated baboon so he can see if he can talk to it.

His plan is that if it becomes hostile he'll immediately flee back to the trollkin hideout by a circuitous route and then shift them somewhere further away from the band.

In reply to Verzeg Black Beetle (msg # 6):

The baboons' attention is drawn to a sudden noise ahead of them. They quickly become alert and bring their weapons into readiness. They scatter into various hiding places, one taking cover not 2m away from Verzeg.

A scent comes to his nostrils, an unwelcome scent. There is at least one dark troll here.

Angry with himself, Verzeg withdraws in a circling route to limit the baboon's ability to track him in the dark.

In reply to Verzeg Black Beetle (msg # 8):

The baboon doesn't hear Verzeg sneaking off, its attention is entirely focussed on the creatures ahead.

Verzeg realises he's been fixated on the baboons and now there's a new problem, uzko. Even though an enlo and therefore a food item he's not automatically hostile to uzko but he knows that uzko stalking these creatures at this time of the night probably means they're hunting, because if they were coming to trade they'd have sent an expendable enlo in with a gift first to ease any tension.

Verzeg is torn. While he's slowly coming to the belief that eating thinking beings is intrinsically wrong (although he hasn't really had the time to sort out any coherent thoughts on the matter) culturally he knows uzko eat other things, that's always been the way. But these baboon-things might be friendly and everyone looks to their friends. However he has to balance this with the threat to the kin in the basement not too far away, are the uzko here for them? Do uzko even live over here?! That's a disturbing thought, Verzeg was under the impression the uzko might only live in the Stronglands but if they live here too they'll never be safe. What to do?

Verzeg may only be an enlo but he's very smart. He knows the baboons may not speak tradetalk as their level of equipment looks like things they could make themselves which don't need to be traded for and thus the baboons might be incapable of speaking with him, however just seeing an enlo might be enough to warn them. If they can talk, well and good, he'll quickly advise them of the danger and possibly win their trust. If the monkey-kin are hostile he'll fade into the night and try and engineer a situation where they come into conflict with the uzko. If all else fails he'll bolt back to the basement and lead the kin in direction of the Garden where the uzko dare not go.

He slides over to a small hole in a wall which is suitable for his small frame and hisses to the baboons "monkey-kin! Uzko, the dark men, are hunting you! You must prepare for a fight, try and get where they can only come at you singly and you can spear them as a group! If you have bright lights use them to scare off the little ones so you only have to fight the big ones! I will help you, but prepare quickly!"

In reply to Verzeg Black Beetle (msg # 10):

The nearby baboon, startled by the unexpected voice, looks round at Verzeg. It remains silent but nods it's head. Then it lets out some loud, screeching yells. Verzeg expects they can be heard at Troll Bridge.

A small fire magically ignites in the grass some 20m away, then suddenly it expands rapidly. Burning everything it touches. The baboon and its companions back away rapidly to put the flames between themselves and the trolls.

Hopefully the uzko are now focused on the baboons, so Verzeg creeps through the ruins in an arc to see if he can get to where the group leader will be setting up for a charge. If the uzko are being traditional they'll try and send the enlo in first to wear down the defenders and then they'll smash into them from an unexpected direction. If there's no enlo then that settles it for Verzeg, they're hunting him and have brought along no enlo to ensure there'll be no more desertions. He'll have to deal with all of them.

In reply to Verzeg Black Beetle (msg # 12):

There are 3 or 4 enlo being urges forward by the uz. They are caught between fierce trolls and the terrifying flames. As they advance slingstones pelt them, some of the stones burst into flames in flight. Two trollkin drop to the ground and the others turn and run in panic.

Verzeg brings the spell "Befuddle" into mind. He marks where the enlo ran off to, if they get separated from the uzko he'll contact them later. Now he has to work out what the uzko are actually up to. he continues his flanking movement until he can see where they are and what they're doing.

In reply to Verzeg Black Beetle (msg # 14):

The fleeing enlo scatter. One gets too close to an angry uz and is swatted like a fly by its massive maul. There seem to be 4 uz. 1 is charging at the baboons, passing very close to the fire. The other 3 disappear into the darkness away from the light of the fire. With his darksense Verzeg can still see them as they flank the apes to try and come at them from the rear.